A PLANE carrying 33 people from Gujarat, who were among 104 Indians deported from the US for illegal immigration, landed at Ahmedabad airport from Amritsar on Thursday (6) morning, officials said.
Soon after their arrival, the 33 immigrants, including some children and women, were transported to their native places in Gujarat in police vehicles, assistant commissioner of police, 'G' division, R D Oza said.
"A plane carrying 33 Gujarati immigrants, including children and women, landed at the airport from Amritsar in the morning. They were among those who were deported from the US. We deployed police vehicles at the airport to transport them to their respective places," Oza told reporters at the airport.
While mediapersons tried to talk to the deported immigrants, they refused to say anything and left for their native places in the police vehicles.
Majority of them are from Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Patan, Vadodara and Kheda districts, sources said.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants, including 33 from Gujarat, landed at Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday (5), the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Family members of these illegal immigrants from Gujarat have claimed they do not know how their kin reached the foreign soil.
Former state deputy chief minister Nitin Patel had expressed sympathy for the deported Gujaratis, underlining the fact that they had gone to the foreign country looking for a job or career, and they should not be portrayed as criminals.
Deputy inspector general of police, CID-Crime, Parikshita Rathod said the police will not question the deportees at this stage.
Meanwhile, several opposition MPs on Thursday slammed the government for the way Indians staying illegally in the US were deported, questioning the treatment meted out to them.
The deportees claimed their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and they were unshackled only after landing at the Amritsar airport.
Opposition parliamentarians, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, protested the treatment meted out to the Indians by US authorities by staging a demonstration in Parliament complex. Some of the opposition leaders protested while wearing handcuffs.
Indian immigrants who allegedly illegally migrated to US arrive in Ahmedabad. (ANI Photo)
Carrying placards like “Humans. Not prisoners”, the opposition leaders said they would not tolerate the insult to India and raised slogans against the government like “Indians insulted. India won’t stay silent”.
“We, the INDIA parties, shall not tolerate the humiliation of Indian nationals. Modi Government must come out with a detailed statement on the deportation and why did we not send our own planes to bring back the Indians, with dignity and respect, instead of a military plane landing on our soil,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X.
Sharing a video of a deportee who was narrating his ordeal, Rahul Gandhi said on X, “Prime minister, listen to this man’s pain. Indians deserve Dignity and Humanity, NOT Handcuffs”.
Talking to reporters in Parliament complex, Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said prime minister Modi should answer why such treatment was given to those deported.
“I would say that a lot was talked about PM Modi and (Donald) Trump’s friendship. Couldn’t we send our plane to get them all back? PM should answer,” she said.
“We have been hearing that Modi and Trump are good friends… Why did he allow this to happen? Is this how you treat people, that you send them back in chains. Prime minister should answer, this is not the way,” the Congress general secretary said.
Yadav asked why these people were forced to leave India. “The question is not just about these Indians being sent back in inhuman conditions. They showed people a dream that India is going to be Vishwaguru. Now they are all quiet,” Yadav said.
Amid attacks by the opposition, Indian minister Chirag Paswan said the government will put forth its views at an appropriate time. “It is a policy decision and it should not be politicised by the opposition,” he said.
Former Union minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the US has a legal right to deport people living there illegally. But we are protesting the way they were sent back. He suggested a civilian aircraft could have been used for the purpose.
India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar addressed parliament about the matter, stating that while restraints were standard US procedure, women and children were not shackled.
"We have been informed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that women and children are not restrained," Jaishankar said.
He added that according to ICE, the needs of deportees during transit, including for food and medical attention, were attended to and deportees could be unrestrained during bathroom breaks.
"There has been no change from past procedure," he added.
Jaspal Singh, one of the deportees on the flight that landed in Amritsar city, described a harrowing experience aboard the flight.
Singh claimed he remained in shackles until landing, contradicting official statements about restraint protocols. He told the BBC that he had borrowed Rs 4 million ( £38,000) for his attempted migration to America, undertaking a perilous months-long journey through terrain where he witnessed evidence of others who had perished en route.
The deportation forms part of a broader American crackdown on illegal immigration, with roughly 18,000 Indians identified for removal. Many of these individuals fall prey to fraudulent travel agencies, paying enormous sums for perilous journeys abroad.
The US maintains that enforcing immigration laws is vital for national security, though they have not commented specifically on the treatment of passengers during this particular flight.
(with inputs from PTI)
John Denham
